1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to preservation of foodstuffs and is directed more particularly to a method for making a food preservative and a method for preserving food.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Taro (Colocasia esculenta), a native crop of Hawaii, is known to naturally ferment to produce an end product, poi. In ancient times, poi comprised a large portion of the Hawaiian diet. Today, poi is still sold commercially and consists of a purplish to grayish paste.
It is known that bacteriocins, small anti-microbial peptides that are naturally produced by certain bacteria, that is, food-safe organisms, can inhibit food spoilage by inhibiting the growth of food spoilage/pathogenic bacteria.
It has been discovered that poi can support the growth of bacteria that produce bacteriocin.
Accordingly, there is a need for a method for converting taro to poi in such a manner as to provide for the production of bacteriocin at a high level, and thereby to provide a method for preserving commercial and military foodstuffs.
An object of the invention is, therefore, to provide a method for producing a suitable poi, and a method for preserving foodstuffs.
With the above and other objects in view, a feature of the present invention is the provision of a method for making a food preservative, the method comprising the steps of removing outer skins of taro corms, cutting the corms into pieces, grinding the pieces of corm to produce ground taro, drying the ground taro, diluting the ground taro with water, cooking the taro and water, inoculating the cooked taro and water with a selected bacteriocin producing bacterium, and permitting the taro to ferment for producing fermented poi, to provide the food preservative.
In accordance with a further feature of the invention, there is provided a method for preserving food, the method comprising the steps of producing fermented poi from taro and placing the fermented poi containing bacteriocin in the food requiring preservation.
The above and other features of the invention, including various novel details of combinations of components and method steps, are more particularly described hereinbelow and pointed out in the claims. It will be understood that the particular methods embodying the invention are described by way of illustration only and not as limitations of the invention. The principles and features of this invention may be employed in various and numerous embodiments without departing from the scope of the invention.